A whole list of fan favourites to be the next James Bond have likely already been rejected according to the author commissioned to write new 007 novels.
Charlie Higson said that Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Rege-Jean Page were all unlikely to be given the role despite their names having been suggested in the media.
The 64-year-old said that names linked to the iconic British spy only ever made their way into the newspapers after being rejected by the executives behind the franchise such as Barbara Broccoli.
Hinson said: "As soon as the papers say so-and-so is being considered as the next James Bond, you know that they’re not going to be the next James Bond.
Favourites tipped for the role are all thought to have been 'rejected'
PA
"You know that they’ve been rejected.
"Eon, who make the films, play their cards very close to their chest and a lot of times they really surprise people.
"In particular, Daniel Craig – nobody had any idea at all that he might be Bond and if you’d been asked in advance, you’d have said, ‘Daniel Craig, James Bond? Surely not’.
"But then he’s just so good in Casino Royale.
Charlie Higson said that the studio producers would keep the decision secret
PA
"Any doubts you might have had immediately go out the window."
Speaking to The Telegraph, he added: "They’re pretty clever on that front and they will inevitably wait to make the announcement at the right time to get the maximum amount of publicity."
Daniel Craig bowed out as 007 after the last Bond film, No Time to Die, with the hunt now on to find a replacement.
Last year Broccoli said the next film would be "a couple of years off", with a new movie not expected to be released until 2025 at the earliest.
In a speech last summer, the series' producer said: "We’re working out where to go with him, we’re talking that through.
"There isn’t a script and we can’t come up with one until we decide how we’re going to approach the next film because, really, it’s a reinvention of Bond.
"We’re reinventing who he is and that takes time.
"I’d say that filming is at least two years away."
